Huntik Trilogy. Volume 1 The Battle Against The Specter

Friendship, Loyalty, Courage and Love

Dante opened his eyes slowly and faintly; he was bound hands and feet in a damp and cold place, probably a basement. He remembered escaping Shadow's attack and being submerged in the fog created by Darkfog; he remembered hearing a hand that closed his mouth to keep him from getting noticed by Zhalia, not too far from him, and another on his eyes while the Darksleep spell was whispered in his ear.
"Did you sleep well?" the voice that turned to him was metallic and icy
"Who are you? Why I don't see Shadow?"
"Because my boss has other things to do, but don't worry, you'll see him again soon..." the man said, taking out a syringe with a black liquid.
Dante's attempts to escape the injection were useless; bound as he was he couldn't rebel.

Zhalia, Sophie, Lok and Cherit had contacted Metz.
They were all anxious, especially Zhalia who was clutching a pillow.
"You have to go back to Venice as soon as possible. You are not safe there!" Metz ordered.
"Without Dante, I won't return!" that was Zhalia's decisive answer.
"Neither do we!" the others said in chorus.
"Guys, do you think I'm not concerned about Dante? You know very well that for me he is like a son. I don't want anyone else to be kidnapped and that's why there's a car out that will take you to the Foundation's private jet."
The three seekers and the little titan were saddened, but they went anyway and reluctantly towards the car.
Zhalia looked out of the darkened windows of the car; in every red-haired passers-by, she seemed to see Dante, and there was still that thing that she had not been able to reveal to him for lack of the right opportunity.
"And now what can I do?" she thought, and a tear ran down her face and fell on Sophie's hand.
"Zhalia what's app? Are you feeling bad?"
"No Sophie, I'm just anxious. I wonder if Dante is fine." she said as she watched outside the jet landed in Toronto airport to load them.

Dante opened his eyes in a white room with a dazzling light above his head. He was on a metal operating table to which he was secured with rings that blocked his wrists and ankles. It was hard for him to remember everything that had happened during the time when he had been awake, then he decided to lift his head and look at himself. He wore only his trousers and on his left shoulder there was the wound left by the needle. At that moment he remembered everything and decided to try to free himself by using Boltflare to melt the metal, but he realized that he could not use his powers because of the chains that blocked his hands, preventing him from setting his fists.
A shiver ran through his back, when he heard steps approaching over the open entrance.
"Ah, you're awake! Better that way, I can already start to have fun!" Shadow laughed treacherously advancing into the room.
"Shadow! Why are you doing this?" Dante asked in the hope of gaining time.
"Because in this way I'll convince you to join me!"
"You are a fool if you hope that I will give up without a fight!"
"Chill out!" he said in a fake reassuring tone. "There will be no useless bloodshed, or rather, I won't have to spill my blood in vain!"
"What do you mean?"
The answer to Dante's question didn't wait: a blade stuck in his right arm. Dante's desperate cry echoed throughout the room.

In Venice, the group of seekers had met at the Casterwill townhouse.
Zhalia couldn't sleep at Dante's house, the bed without him seemed too big and the house too empty.
Metz had joined them and started investigating.
"Why didn't I hear anything that day at the airport? I should have heard the voice!" Sophie blamed herself for that.
"Maybe it doesn't always work... maybe it's a new power you're developing..." Lok hypothesized.
"Maybe you're right, Lok." Sophie brightened, a little more reassured.
"Guys, I found a clue." Zhalia said.
"Claude used to write this diary for some time but on the last page the writing changes, as if he were afraid that someone would decipher this information too easily!" she pointed out, passing the diary to Sophie.
"You're right Zhalia! Hey, Metz, take a look!"
"Great job, Zhalia!" Metz complimented. "We just have to decipher the code." he commented, looking at Sophie.
Sophie began to read aloud. "The text says: - The eye that sees everything: in the bowels of Toronto there is the house of darkness. - There is also a date 11 May 2010."
"Good Sophie! We'll leave for Toronto in a week, when the situation have calmed down, and we will have a new base on which to lean on." Metzsaid leaving them.
In the room reserved for him, Metz began to reflect. The most promising seeker of the Foundation, the pupil who had surpassed his teacher in everything had ended up in a trap.
"Dante, I don't know how they captured you, but I promise you, I'll save you!"

For days Dante was hungry and beaten, but he kept cold blood and showed he was above average.

"Isn't that still enough for you?" Shadow askedspeachless "I'm surprised how you managed to control yourself even when I plunged you into the tub."
Dante looked at him, frowning, trying to mask his weariness.
"Your eyes are a prove of your willpower... I wonder how long you will resist..." Shadow sneered taking a small blade that pierced Dante's body. In the moment Shadow pulled out the blade, a cry of pain came from the seeker.
"No! My answer won't change, it's always no!"
"You don't have the courage to raise your head and look at your chest and abdomen to see what I did, am I right?" Shadowasked amused.
In response, Dante gritted his teeth and turned to the other side to not see Shadow's face.
"Don't you feel the pain? All of this can end, just one word!"
"I saw what you did to me and, yes, I feel pain, but I won't give up to you! I believe in things you don't even know remotely what they are and I'm not afraid of being wrong."
"For example?" Shadow asked, wiping the blade of one of his knives in a black cloth.
"Friendship, loyalty, courage and love!"
"

And these would be the things you believe in? You're just a fool, Dante Vale! "
This time the blade of the knife that Shadow had prepared penetrated deep, taking away part of the flesh, causing greater pain. Dante clearly saw one of his left ribs being exposed between the blood; he closed his eyes as Shadow slid the blade back into his wound.

Sophie was sleeping in her bed, but her sleep was agitated. The voice wasn't letting her rest; she snapped in when he heard Dante's name.
She got out of bed and knocked on the door of Metz's room.
"Were you sleeping, Mr. Metz?" she asked when the man opened the door.
"No, Sophie, I cannot stop thinking about Dante."
"We have to leave for Toronto immediately, we cannot wait."
Metz gestured for Sophie to enter his room, unaware that Zhalia had left her room and listened to the whole conversation.